There will be a record field of over 600 players competing in the 2018 PDC Qualifying Schools, as players battle it out for coveted PDC Tour Cards in Wigan and Hildesheim from January 18th-21st.

There are a total of 33 tour cards on offer across the respective Qualifying Schools, with the events being held simultaneously. The Robin Park Tennis Centre in Wigan will once again play host to the UK Qualifying School, whilst Hildesheim holds the inaugural European Qualifying School, which reflects the ongoing growth of the sport.

The final two players at the UK Qualifying School on each of the four days will win an automatic PDC Tour Card, alongside the winner of the European Qualifying School on each day. Players will earn ranking points per victory in each full round of the event (which does not include byes), which will be used to form the Q-School Orders of Merit.

One of the most high-profile entrants for the UK Qualifying School is former world number one Colin Lloyd. Lloyd, a previous winner of the World Matchplay and World Grand Prix, is aiming to reclaim his place on the PDC circuit having enjoyed a two-year hiatus from competitive darts.

Another former World Matchplay winner Peter Evison will also be competing in Wigan, alongside recent Premier League star Wes Newton and former TV finalists Colin Osborne, Barrie Bates and Shayne Burgess.

Auckland Darts Masters finalist Corey Cadby has made the move to the UK in a bid to seal a place on the Pro Tour circuit for the first time in his career, and he’ll be joined by two other former World-Youth champions in the shape of Arron Monk and James Hubbard.

There will also be a host of experienced faces in action over the gruelling four-day qualification event. Andy Smith, Andy Jenkins, Dennis Smith and Alan Tabern will all be vying to reclaim PDC tour cards, whilst Dean Winstanley also features after a twelve-month absence from the competitive circuit.

Former Lakeside World Championship finalists Tony O’Shea and Jeff Smith are among the high-profile BDO representatives making the switch, whilst O’Shea will be joined by his fellow Stockport ace- former World Trophy winner Darryl Fitton.

Jamie Hughes, seeded third at last week’s Lakeside World Championship, will also be in action, having competed in the Grand Slam for the previous two years. Elsewhere, Cameron Menzies, another BDO participant at the 2017 Grand Slam, will feature alongside former World Masters semi-finalist Martin Atkins.

Despite the European Qualifying School taking place in Hildesheim, there will still be an International flavour to the field in Wigan, with Canadian star Dawson Murschell competing alongside his compatriots Jeff Smith and Ken MacNeil.

In addition to this, former World Championship qualifiers David Fatum (USA), Nolan Arendse and Warrick Scheffer (South Africa), Haruki Muramatsu and Keita Ono (Japan) and Cody Harris (New Zealand) also make up the bumper-field in Wigan.

In terms of the inaugural European Qualifying School, the field is headlined by 2017 Lakeside finalist Danny Noppert, who recently won the Finder Darts Masters on home soil. Noppert will also be joined by Swedish star Dennis Nilsson, with the pair having recently competed in the BDO World Championship last week.

The talented Dutch duo of Jeffrey de Zwaan and Dirk van Duijvenbode will be hoping to regain their PDC tour cards in Germany, whilst four-time Development Tour winner Mike De Decker is also bidding to join the Pro Tour circuit on a permanent basis.

2017 JDC Junior World Champion Rusty-Jake Rodriguez will be competing alongside his brother Roxy-James, as they aim to join Rowby-John on the senior circuit. Meanwhile, another exciting talent to watch out for will be Nico Blum- who became the youngest competitor on the European Tour circuit last year, aged just 16.

Kenny Neyens, Alan Ljubic and Kim Viljanen, all of whom competed in the recent PDC World Championship, will also be in attendance in Hildesheim. They’ll be joined by German star Kevin Munch who stunned Adrian Lewis at the Ally Pally, whilst Polish World Masters champion Krzysztof Ratajski is also set to feature.

Finally, Brazilian star Diogo Portela, who competed in both the World Cup of Darts and World Championship last year, has opted to compete in the European Qualifying School. The full list of entries for both PDC Qualifying Schools can be viewed below.